Sunday, 17 September 2017

Forbidden & Limited Discussion by GeoTheBacon

Welcome to a rare post by GeoTheBacon, where I will try to break down for you why I think the banlist is the way it is, while trying to shed some light on the massive shift!

Lets start off with the newly killed off Forbidden cards:

Master Peace, the True Dracoslaying King

1) Even at one, it was still able to wreck havoc due to its immunity ability unless your deck prepared all 3 different ways of getting rid of it (Monster/Spell/Trap). Otherwise it will be a tough battle.

2) Which brings us to the fact that it can destroy one card on the field once per turn, thus raising the bar to kill it even higher than before, making it pretty much a win condition by itself if you can bring it out after wearing down your opponent's resources.

3) But you may ask since it was at 1 you couldn't easily call him out could you? And that's where we all were wrong about. It can be easily searched by Majesty Maiden, the True Dracocaster, Waterfall of Dragon Souls, and Dragonic Diagram.

And that is why to it warrants a hit to the Forbidden list.

Dragonic Diagram

1) Its effect is once per turn, meaning after you set it on the field if your opponent is unable to get rid of it, you can pretty much plus off this card every other turn. And with all the new field spell support recently like Set Rotation, Metaverse, and even Dragon Ravine (click it to read up about it!). It's pretty easy to get this card out and make it stay there.

2) This card's ability to destroy any card on your field or hand to search for a True King or True Draco, is also one of the reason for this card being banned. Note not only does it helps you get cards into the graveyard (which will trigger cards with graveyard effect) it DESTROYS them which trigger card effects which can snowball into advantage.

3) It was a popular core engine for plenty of decks and hitting the core engine is Konami's way of saying, "Lets bring in a new meta!"

And now let's move on to cards that moved to the Limited list, starting with the only card that went from Forbidden to Limited.

Tribe-Infecting Virus

1) Since Dark Hole is at 2 now in the OCG, why not release this virus into the world to test out whether if this card is still as broken as before?

2) Since this card cannot be searched easily and it's not a quick effect, it's pretty docile compared to other monsters that exist now.

3) This is just another attempt by Konami to empty the Forbidden section bit by bit.

Aleister the Invoker

1) Its ability to search out it's own "Invocation" when it's normal summoned or flipped face up, which leads to a Fusion Summon thereafter followed by a recycling of the engine. The nature of the engine almost assures you a Fusion Monster every other turn.

2) Since this card can be used as fusion material in the graveyard, it benefits from Spellbook of Knowledge and Wonder Wand.

3) Without multiple copies of it, choosing between a 1000ATK/DEF boost or keeping it in hand for another go at Fusion Summoning would be a tougher choice to make.

Limiting it to a single copy gives an extra layer to the game, letting players decide which action to embark upon.

1) Dinomight Knight's effect to activate a True King/True Draco Trap is fearsome for two reasons - the Traps itselves are powerful + Activating a Trap speeds up the process of "waiting to draw into it and then set it, and then activate it the next turn"

Not to mention True King's Return and True Draco's Apocalypse + Dinomight Knight on the field sets up for a scary loop.

Destroy Dinomight Knight when the opponent attacks it, with True Draco's Apocalypse during the Damage Step. Opponent's monsters ATK gets halved and no damage is taken from the battle.

Revive Dinomight Knight with True King's Return.

Rinse and Repeat.

2) True Draco Heritage helps replenish resources and the count counts towards both players, making it scarier in a Mirror Match.

3) An onslaught by Konami to shift the metagame towards Link-based decks.

Souleating Oviraptor

1) Ok... Let's just be honest here - Konami likes to limit searchers.

2) This card itself is a one card combo that can lead to a double negation through Denglong, and Herald of Arc Light. This means it can single-handedly trade two cards from your opponent. Low resource-dedication, high reward.

3) It can revive ANY dinosaur monster that can be special summoned from the graveyard and the only downside is that it has to be special summoned in defense position.

Answer = effects are too good, it has to go.

Babycerasaurus

1) It's either this card hitting the banlist or at the True Kings, so I guess Konami made their choice.

2) Too many targets for it to summon, even itself. No restrictions or drawbacks, which means you can special summon another copy of itself to destroy it again. AND again, and again.

3) With such an effect that can be easily abused, Konami would like it out of the way to bring in new cards into the meta!

Denglong, First of the Yang Zing

1) It's a generic rank 5 that can search for any Yang Zing card, aka Nine Pillars, and it can send any Wyrm-Type monster.

2) Part of the one-card for two negations play.

2) One Denglong means players now have to be conservative and lean towards Yang Zing Path.

3) This card is a key player in many FTK decks and it is played at one copy. This means it may still Forbidden in the future to destroy rampent FTK decks.

Terraforming

1) There are a lot of decks that rely on field spell nowadays, this might be an attempt to reduce their consistency, instead of a "5" field spell deck it becomes a "4" field spell deck.

2) There are new cards that brings out field spell, like Metaverse and Set Rotation. This might be an attempt for Konami to push the sales of these cards.

3) This card has already had its head on the chopping board since field spells became more prominent in the metagame.

Spellbook of Secrets

1) The extension to the Spellbook "Pot of Greed" combo, which searches Spellbook Magician of Prophecy which in turn searches Spellbook of Knowledge. This card helps to thin the deck and reinforce the engine's consistency. So to make it less consistent it's now at 1.

2) Out of the 3 cards used in the above combo, this is the only card that wasn't printed or reprinted recently. So hitting it will not hurt sales as much as the rest.

3) Guess it's not a secret that Spellbook has been reduced from a meta deck to an engine. Now, it is just an engine, albeit an inconsistent one.

Trickstar Reincarnation

1) Some of you might ask why is this card even hit in the first place. First off, Trickstar is very popular and successful in some countries and it even won YOT Singapore 2017 this year.

2) Konami may be trying to curb the 'little-interaction' situation where two Reincarnation + Droll & Lock Bird would empty the opponent's hand.

3) It does not only disrupt opponent's plays, it also set up revival for Trickstar monster that can be used almost anytime they want, and lets not forget it's NOT once per turn.

ABC-Dragon Buster

1) A returning meta deck that just got a breather previously, but is now slayed. Required move to shift the metagame.

2) The beauty of this card is how easy it is to summon it by 'contact fusioning' from the field and the graveyard, and it's own ability to "defusion" itself, setting up for another ABC next turn. So what will happen if there is only 1 ABC? Answer: you can't loop-summon it anymore.

3) An effect similar to Zoodiac Drident and Master Peace, the True Dracoslaying King deserves a spot on the list similar to them too. lol

Onto the Semi-Limit List.

Maxx “C”

1) The bane of all combo decks that special summons a lot, in order to promote for more combo-oriented decks (essentially link decks). Konami has kindly make it harder to draw into this card during turn one.

2) It can provide so much advantage/discourage plays that it is hardly a surprise it deserves to be hit.

3) Many players have wanted and waited very long for this card to hit the banlist in OCG (me included), and it seems Konami has given us an early Christmas present.

Windwitch – Ice Bell

1) A one-card Crystal Wing Synchro Dragon that cannot be destroyed by card effect. Thus setting up a monster effect floodgate with just 1 card.

2) This hit is likely to deter players from playing this engine as since Ice Bell kickstarts the engine. Another 'go-away so people play Links' move.

Fossil Dig

1) It's a card that supports Dinosaurs and it's a searcher.

2) Konami wants Dinosaurs to be out of meta.

3) Just in case the other hits are not hard enough.

Now on to the cards that have been released to Semi-Limited

Pot of Avarice

1) This is an obvious attempt to support the new Spyral archtype that landed in OCG, and any upcoming combo-centric deck that fills up graveyard fast.

2) With the meta speeding up, and with almost every new archtype getting their own form of negation, cards like this that were broken in the past can slowly exit the banlist just like Dark Hole.

Summoner MonkFuture Fusion

1) The restrictions on both cards slows both of them down and make them not as useful as they once were.

2) With better alternatives and lack of usage of this cards, they have earned their rights to be semi-limited.

3) They are also part of Konami attempt to trim down on their banlist.

And finally cards that have finally left the Ban list completely.

1) Some are part of Konami's plan of getting cards out of the banlist for reprints.

2) Others are cards that was completely power creeped or have no businness left in the banlist after their counterparts have been banned

3) And lets not forget the cards that have been released ahead of time for the upcoming LINK VRAINS Pack coming out this November 25th.

Conclusion:

1) Konami has been very hardworking recently, trying to shift the meta. (OCG only, sorry TCG)